Wrench.



P. L. KIMBALL.

WRENCH.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9, 1908.

898,657. I Patented Sept. 15, 1908.

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UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

. PERLEY L. KIMBALL, OF BELLOWS FALLS, VERMONT, ASSIGNOR TO VERMONT FARMMACHINE COMPANY, OF BELLOWS FALLS, VERMONT, 'A CORPORATION OF VERMONT.

WRENCH.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PERLEY L. KIMBALL, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Bellows Falls, in the county of WVindham and Stateof Vermont, have invented certain Improvements in I/Vrenches, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in wrenches particularly of thekind known as spanner wrenches. Heretofore wrenches of this characterhave been made with a square or other polygonal hole in the head of thewrench to fit, more or less accurately, a nut or bolt-head of similarshape in cross section, or have been made in the shape of a curved hookhaving a spur projecting inward from the outer end of the hook, andintended to engage a hole formed in the periphery of the nut orbolt-head. In any of these prior forms of spanner wrenches, it isnecessary for the user to continually keep the hand upon the wrench inorder to hold it in operative position, particularly when applied to thenut or head of a bolt in a vertical position, otherwise the handle ofthe wrench would drop downward and tilt the socket or spanner end out ofoperative position, and in case of the I hooked form it would drop offfrom the head.

These have been undesirable, inconvenient and annoying forms ofconstruction.

My invention consists of a Wrench in which the spanner portion Willencompass the nut or head of the bolt more than 180, that is, so thatthe wrench cannot be removed laterally from the nut; preferably however,I make the head of the Wrench a complete circle with a spur projectinginward from this ring at the side opposite to the handle of the wrench,which spur is intended to engage a hole formed in the periphery of thenut or bolt-head; and I provide one or more fingers or rests whichproject inward orover the circular opening of the wrench in a planeparallel with and above the surface of the ring, so that when the spurof the wrench is inserted in the hole in the head of the bolt, thebearing finger or fingers projecting over the socket opening will restupon the top of the bolthead and hold the wrench in proper operativeposition without the aid of the hand, and especially when the bolt is'ina vertical position it, with the wrench, can be rapidly turned in eitherdirection without liability of falling from the bolt'or becomingdisplaced,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 9, 1908.

Patented Sept. 15, 1908.

Serial No. 437,536.

and the handle of the wrench need be firmly grasped by the hand only tofinally set up the nut or bolt screw, or to start it from its seat whenunscrewing.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a planview of the simplest form of wrench having a cylindrical hole for thesocket and a single bearing finger projecting over it; Fig. 2 is asectional side elevation of the wrench showing it applied to a bolt-headin operative position, the bolthead being broken away at the hole withwhich a spur on the wrench engages; Fig. 3 is an elevation, viewed fromthe left of Fig. 1, showing the bearing piece in the form of a cross-baror bridge over the socket opening.

Designating the parts of the wrench by reference letters; 0 is thecircular socket of sub stantially the size of the nut or head of thebolt; S, the spur projecting into the circular opening and intended toengage a hole A in the peri )hery of the nut or bolt-head B. From thesoc 61; ring a finger F projects over the opening and is arranged in aplane parallel with that of the body of the wrench, but above it, sothat when the spur is in engage ment with the hole in the bolt thefinger F will rest upon the top of the bolthead, as illustrated in Fig.2, and remains there in operative position without the aid of the handof the user and when the bolt is in a vertical position by placing afinger of the hand against the handle H the wrench with the bolt may berapidly turned in either direction without liability of the wrench beingdisplaced. For ease of operation the circular opening C in the wrenchshould be made large enough to be easily applied to and removed from thenut or bolt-head without binding upon the edges thereof.

If desired, more than one projecting finger or bearing piece may beemployed, at different circumferential positions on the socket ringwhich encompasses the circular opening C, or in place of fingers, acontinuous strip F in the nature of a bridge may extend across thesocket opening, and have its ends fastened to the encompassing ring, asin Fig. 3, so that it will serve as a bearing piece and rest upon andacross the nut or bolt-head when the wrench is applied thereto; butthese equivalents will, in most instances, be found unnecessary, and forsimplicity and economy of manufacture the construction illustrated willbe found satisfactory. Obviously, also, a portion of the metal surrounding the socket of the wrench might be omitted for instance, the portionbetween dotted lines 9c@ Fig. 1, but at least something over 180 of theencompassing ring should remain so that the wrench cannot be removedlaterally from the nut or bolt-head.

I claim u 1. In a spanner wrench, a socket for a nut or bolt-head, whichwill encompass, more than 180 of the periphery of the head, an inwardlyprojecting spur to engage a hole in the periphery of the head and one ormore bearing pieces which project over the socket opening and rest uponthe top of the nut or bolt-head when in operative position thereon. 2.In a spanner wrench, a circular opening to fit over the nut 0rbolt-head, a spur proj ecting radially into such opening to engage ahole in the periphery of the bolt-head and a finger which projects overthe circular opening upon the side substantially opposite to said spur,and which rests upon the top of the bolt-head when the wrench is inoperative position thereon.

PERLEY L. KIMBALL. WVitnesses:

J. H. WHITNEY, F. C. HILDRETII.

